When I speak of the ‘world’ I’m referring to popular culture. The dominant force in our Western society that influences the way we think, feel and what we value most highly. Recently, I watched a little ABC3 with my 6-year-old. The show was about a…
My husband recently travelled to the Philippines to a poor remote village community. He spent two weeks without TV, newspapers, his iphone and internet connection (mostly). He came back a changed man, convinced that our lives are unnecessarily busy, stressful and we are losing our…
Some of the most precious moments we will have with our children are during play. Well, that’s what I tell myself during frustratingly drawn out games of hide and seek, games of mummies and daddies where I have to play the cat or ‘concerts’ that…
After the recent hype over child beauty pageants in the media, I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon. I admit to enjoying (?) the odd episode of toddlers and tiara’s . It was fascinating and despite the fact it made me uncomfortable and occasionally disturbed – I…
The media have become the mainstream culture in children’s lives. Parents have become the alternative. Americans once expected parents to raise their children in accordance with the dominant cultural messages. Today they are expected to raise their children in opposition to it – Ellen Goodman…